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| Iowa prison project aims to reduce overcrowding |
| By AP |
| Published: 08/24/2003 |
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Local and state officials in Iowa are looking for new options for using the Clarinda Treatment Complex. Rick Allely, the executive director of the Clarinda Economic Development Corp., said the community has long been known for putting together win-win deals for private businesses and government entities. The latest effort is the Clarinda Prison Lodge Project, which calls for the retrofitting of an existing employee lodge building into a prison facility for about 225 'minimum-outs' inmates, or those who have earned the privilege of working outside of a correctional center but need to be checked on once or twice each hour. Currently, such inmates are housed in medium custody cells at the main Clarinda Correctional Facility. 'Use of the lodge for minimum-outs inmates will allow the Department of Corrections to backfill vacated cells with inmates,' said Mark Lund, director of the Clarinda Treatment Complex. 'We believe this plan is a cost-effective method utilizing existing state infrastructure at a cost savings to Iowans.' Lund said the lodge project would help reduce overcrowding at the state's medium security prisons and increase the Clarinda prison's capacity by more than 200 inmates. The lodge project also would create about 55 jobs, he said. 'The community worked cooperatively to develop the proposal,' Allely said. 'We used past experience and historical data to develop a summary of estimated costs associated with the project.' The proposal has been submitted to the Legislature for consideration. Clarinda Mayor Frank Snyder said Allely has worked with the prison staff 'to make this project a reality.' 'We believe this project further illustrates our community's willingness to work with our local employers to see that everyone succeeds in these difficult economic times,' Snyder said. The Clarinda Treatment Complex employs more than 700 people and provides an annual payroll of more than $33 million to the community. |
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